I’ve often wondered how frequent flyers keep track of where they are when they wake up in the morning in yet another Marriott hotel that looks just like every other Marriott hotel in the world. But hopefully, although it may take a moment to remember where they are, they at least know who they are, and what country issued their passport.

Vasyl Verameychyk, on the other hand, might have a more serious problem: that of figuring out where he belongs, and whether his passport will be considered valid on any given day.

A very brief report in yesterday’s news opened with this sentence:

“Vietnam has extradited a Belarusian national who fought as a volunteer in Ukraine on Kyiv’s side to Minsk, Belarusian media reported on November 20.” [RFE/RL, November 20, 2024.]

Wait . . . what?!! How did Vietnam get into the picture?

The report went on to indicate that Vasyl is a Belarusian national who had served in the Belarusian Army for seven years, but joined in the anti-government protests of 2020. Under threat of arrest for his oppositionist activities, he fled to Ukraine, where he then fought as a volunteer against the Russian invasion of 2022 until he was wounded in April of that same year.

He next was denied permission to settle in Lithuania due to his former Belarusian Army service — the Lithuanian government being understandably wary of anyone from a Russian puppet state. So he moved to Vietnam.

Why Vietnam? Good question. The article doesn’t provide that information, and I’m having a really difficult time trying to imagine the mental leap that carried Vasyl from the Baltics to a Southeast Asian country that has drawn ever closer to Russia in recent years, and since 2022 — at the Kremlin’s request — has deported several Russian citizens living in Vietnam because they criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

But there he was, when Aleksandr Lukashenko — self-proclaimed president of Belarus — apparently had no trouble convincing the Vietnamese authorities to extradite Vasyl back to Minsk last month to face as-yet-unspecified charges, despite international appeals having been lodged in his behalf.

Today, a statement was issued from the office of Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, condemning the extradition and placing the blame squarely where it belongs — on Lukashenko’s relentless targeting of his opponents, whether inside or outside of Belarus. [RFE/RL, November 21, 2024.] Clearly, he takes his cues from his Russian patron.

The statement also advises Belarusians living abroad to “remain vigilant against potential actions by Lukashenka’s [sic] security services.” [Id.]

Poor Vasyl; the warning comes too late for him. He did nothing more than express his opposition to an illegal, immoral war. And for that, he found himself stateless: wanted by Belarus, unwanted by Lithuania, and hunted down in Vietnam.

There really is no way to run far enough, or anywhere safe enough to hide in this world.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/21/24